On July 17th, 1980, a woman was unearthed in a timber-covered area of Alaska, close to a power line. She was found in the town of Eklutna, just around a mile south of South Eklutna Lake Road, and not far from mile marker two out there in the wilderness.
It’s not clear exactly how she was found, but when she was, she had no forms of identification on her and had been dead for about a year prior to being buried.
She was wearing jeans, a brown leather jacket that hit at about her hip, reddish-brown to brown high-heeled, knee-length vinyl boots that zipped up the side, and a sleeveless knit sweater that was either light gray, beige, or white.
She also had on very distinctive jewelry that looked to be handmade: a turquoise and copper bracelet, a shell necklace, and a white shell ring.
She also wore a Timex watch and gold-plated hoop-shaped earrings. She was carrying Salem brand matches in one of her jacket pockets.
She was young; between 16 and 25-years-old. She had long, light brown hair that had something of a reddish tone to it. It could have been strawberry blonde.
She was small in stature; around 4 foot 11 to 5 foot 3. She was white, but she may have also had a bit of Native American to her roots.
After an autopsy was performed, it was ruled that she was the victim of a homicide and her cause of death was a stab wound to her back.
She had her whole life ahead of her, but it was all cut short by a serial killer.
Just 4 years after this woman who came to be known as Eklutna Annie in place of her real name was discovered, serial killer Robert Hansen revealed that he was responsible for Annie’s murder and that he had taken her life in that fall of 1979 or the early winter.
In fact, Annie was Robert’s very first victim. He then went on to murder at least 17 to 21 more women in Alaska. Before his death in 2014 while he was still incarcerated, Robert mentioned that he did not know Annie’s real name, but he thought she had worked at a nearby bar.
Robert admitted to authorities that he did stab Annie in the back. He had tried driving her back to his home, but she had gotten out of his car.
Annie fought back hard against Robert, and she said to him very emotionally right before he took her life, “You’re going to kill me!”
He figured she was either from Kodiak, Alaska or that she had family members that lived there. State troopers have also said Annie could have been from California or Washington before she moved to Alaska.
The following missing women have been ruled out as being the real identity of Annie: Roxane Easland, Karen Evan, Teresa Davis, and Megan Emerick.
Annie has been buried at Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, where her stone reads, “Jane Doe/Died 1980.” Robert was found guilty of Annie’s murder and that of three other people and was sentenced to 461 years with no option for parole.
If you have any information about who Annie really is, please contact the Anchorage Police Department at 1-907-786-2668 or the Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office at 907-334-2200.
Her case number is 1980-45262.
